On 10/27/2020 5:55 PM, spudboy100 via Everything List wrote:
I could ignore the crowing about the wonderfulness of the alternative
to Don, or I can hit back. I keep quiet unless somebody here yodels
out some political diatribe, but when they do I write back. Consider
this a character flaw, a disorder, no problem. I don't see the guy who
took some action against Xi, while Joe and Chuck and Nancy were always
laudatory for the dude.
=============================================
Washington, D.C. 15 Oct 2019 – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on
the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 4270, the
PROTECT Hong Kong Act; H.R. 3289, the Hong Kong Human Rights and
Democracy Act of 2019; and H.Res. 543, a resolution supporting the Hong
Kong protestors. Below are the Speaker’s remarks:
Speaker Pelosi: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for
yielding and I thank him for his support of democracy and democratic
freedom in Hong Kong.
I want to salute my colleague, Representative Smith from New Jersey,
with whom I have worked for decades with on this subject, whether it's
religious freedom, freedom of expression, and in China. And I thank Mr.
McGovern for his important leadership as Chair of the China Commission
and as Chair of the Lantos Human Rights Commission. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Sherman, for your leadership, and for yielding,
in fact.
So, right now we're on the, what, Protect Hong Kong Act as amended, by
Mr. McGovern and I rise in support of that legislation. And indeed the
bills that are on the Floor to support democratic freedom in Hong Kong.
Mr. Speaker, for four months the young people of Hong Kong have sent a
stirring message to the world that the dreams of freedom, justice and
democracy can never be extinguished by injustice and intimidation.
The extraordinary outpouring of courage from the people of Hong Kong
stands in stark contrast to a cowardly government that refuses to
respect the rule of law or live up to the ‘One Country, Two Systems’
framework, which was guaranteed more than two decades ago.
In 1984, before the United Kingdom transferred Hong Kong to China, the
Chinese government promised a high degree of autonomy for the territory
in the Joint Declaration of the Question of Hong Kong, providing for an
independent executive, legislature and judiciary — independent; ensuring
the freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion; prohibiting the
central government, the Chinese government in Beijing, from interfering
in the affairs that Hong Kong administers on its own according to the
Basic Law; and pledging a path to universal suffrage.
*In 1997 – that's when we were here doing this – when the handover
occurred, America was hopeful that the people of Hong Kong would achieve
this high degree of autonomy that they were promised. And, this was a
promise that was participated in by the U.K. government.**
**
**Today, we must sadly conclude that China has broken that promise. *
For years, the people of Hong Kong have faced a barrage of unjust and
harsh restrictions on their freedoms. And those who have stood up for
their rights have been met with a cruel crackdown.
In Congress, Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate
stand united with the people of Hong Kong. If America does not speak
out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we
lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights any place in the
world.
Since Tiananmen Square 30 years ago, many of us, in a bipartisan way,
have been fighting this fight and we have seen that commercial interests
always wins. It's always about the money. I lost my innocence on human
rights in America and China all those years ago, when I saw that while
we talked a good talk, when it came right down to it – right, Mr. Smith?
– it was always about the money.
Again, to those who want to take the repressive government's side in
this discussion, I say to you, what does it profit a person if he gains
the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul? And we do not want to
lose the soul of our country for commercial interests, whatever those
commercial interests may be.
It's interesting hear people saying, we have to know both sides of the
story. Okay, you want to know both sides?
*One side is a very repressive regime that is crushing democratic
freedoms in Hong Kong, at the same time that they have tried to destroy
the culture, the language and religion in Tibet, at the same time as
they incarcerate in education camps more than a million, could be three
million, Uyghur Muslims in China, while they repress religious freedom
there. The list goes on and on. *
And the other side, young people speaking out for freedom, democratic
freedoms, in Hong Kong. They are so impressive.
Mr. Smith and I have worked, as Mr. McGovern has, with like three
generations. Starting after Tiananmen, tanks rolling over young people
who spoke out for democratic freedoms in China. The next generation, a
couple, fifteen years later. And now, this generation of young people.
So impressive are they that even the more senior freedom fighters in
Hong Kong are impressed by their courage and their stick-to-it-iveness.
*Today, the House is proud to pass a bicameral, bipartisan Hong Kong
Human Rights and Democracy Act to reaffirm America's commitment to
democracy.* And that doesn't mean a democracy lite – it means
democratic freedoms, human rights and the rule of law in the face of
Beijing's crackdown. And Beijing thinks that they can rule because of
money. It always comes down to that.
=====================================================
If Trump or anyone else plays nice-nice with Xi, this troubles me.
NYT 22 Nov 2019: WASHINGTON — President Trump refused to commit Friday
to signing legislation overwhelmingly passed by Congress to support
pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, saying that he supported the
protesters but that President Xi Jinping of China was “a friend of mine.”
The bill comes as Mr. Trump is trying to strike a trade deal with China,
one of the central goals of his presidency. It puts him in the delicate
position of trying to win China’s support for the pact while balancing
growing calls from Congress to support the protesters who are taking on
Beijing.
“I stand with Hong Kong,” he said during a nearly hourlong interview on
the morning program “Fox & Friends.” “I stand with freedom. I stand with
all of the things we want to do. But we’re also in the process of making
the largest trade deal in history.”
*Mr. Trump spoke warmly about Mr. Xi, calling him “an incredible guy”
and “a friend of mine.” And he credited his trade negotiation with China
as the reason Mr. Xi had not already extinguished the protests with a
sweeping and violent crackdown that would have killed “thousands” of
people.*
“If it weren’t for me, Hong Kong would have been obliterated in 14
minutes,” Mr. Trump said.
But Mr. Trump’s apparent willingness to tie human rights issues to
progress on the trade front drew rebukes from Republicans and Democrats,
who said such positioning risked compromising the United States’ role as
a global defender of democracy.
*“Make no mistake: President Trump’s words today do not reflect what the
American people or the Congress think about President Xi’s oppressive
policies toward the people of Hong Kong,” said Senator Chuck Schumer,
the minority leader. “For a guy who promised to be tough on China,
President Trump’s reliable deference to President Xi is all the more
bewildering.”**
**
**Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, said that a veto from Mr.
Trump “would be a mistake. Congress spoke loud and clear that we
#StandWithHongKong.” He added, “It’s more important than a trade deal.”*
===================================================
I know potatoes grow underground, but even there enough news should
penetrate for you to know who praises Xi and who criticizes him.
Brent
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